Extreme cinema is a subgenre used for films distinguished by its use of excessive sex and violence, and such various extreme nature as mutilation and torture. It recently specializes in genre film, mostly both horror and drama.
Reception
The rising popularity of Asian films in the 21st century has contributed to the growth of extreme cinema, although extreme cinema is still considered to be a horror film-based genre. Being a relatively recent genre, extreme cinema is controversial and widely unaccepted by the mainstream media. Extreme cinema films target a specific and small audience group.
History
The prehistory of extreme cinema can be traced back to censorship of art films and advertising tactics for classical exploitation films to Anglophone markets alongside later liberal representations of sex in the first half of the 20th century onwards.
The name "extreme cinema" originated from a “line of Asian films that share a combination of sensational features, such as extreme violence, horror and shocking plots”. Extreme cinema can be rooted as "Asian Extreme", the term for Japanese and other Asian films used to its excessive nature. Early examples of Asian Extreme such as Ring (1998) and Battle Royale (2000).
Controversy
Extreme cinema is highly criticized and debated by film critics and the general public. There have been debates over the hypersexualization that makes these films a threat to the ‘mainstream’ community standards.
There has also been criticism over the increasing use of violence in modern-day films. Ever since the emergence of slasher-gore films in the ’70s, the rising popularity of extreme cinema has contributed to the casual violence in popular media. Some criticize the easy exposure and unintended targeting of adolescence by extreme cinema films.
Notable films
A Serbian Film (2010) Act of Vengeance (1974) Antichrist (2009) Audition (1999) Auschwitz (2011) Bandit Queen (1994) Begotten(1990) Benny's Video (1992) Black Friday (2004) Blood Feast (1963) Caligula, unrated version (1979) Caligula... The Untold Story (1982) Cannibal Holocaust (1980) The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) Crash (1996) The Devils (1971) Dogtooth (2009) Faces of Death (1979) Funny Games (1997) Gandu (2010) Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies (1994) Hellraiser (1987) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) Hostel (2005) The House That Jack Built (2018) The Human Centipede (2009) I Spit on Your Grave (1978) Ichi the Killer (2001) The Idiots (1998) Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975) In the Realm of the Senses (1976) Irréversible (2002) Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) Kinatay (2009) Maniac (1980) Man Bites Dog (1992) Mark of the Devil (1970) Martyrs (2008) Masking Threshold (2021) Matrubhoomi (2003) Multiple Maniacs (1970) Mysterious Skin (2004) Natural Born Killers (1994) Nekromantik (1987) Oedipus Rex (1967) Oldboy (2003) Paanch (2003) The Passion of the Christ (2004) Pieces (1982) Pigsty (1969) Pink Flamingos (1972) The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006) Rambo 4 (2008) Re-Animator (1985) Relic (2020) Requiem for a Dream (2000) Saani Kaayidham (2022) The Sadness (2021) Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) Saw (2004) Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (1997) Stille Nacht (1969) Suicide Club (2001) Sweet Movie (1974) Taxidermia (2006) Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1973) Un Chien Andalou (1929) Vase de Noces (1974) Where the Dead Go to Die (2012)
Notable directors
Early Gaspar Noé (I Stand Alone, aforementioned Irréversible and Carne) Early Peter Jackson (Bad Taste and Dead Alive) Early John Waters (aforementioned Multiple Maniacs and Pink Flamingos) Early Wes Craven (1972's Last House on the Left and 1977's The Hills Have Eyes) Uwe Boll Bruno Dumont Lars von Trier Takashi Miike Pier Paolo Pasolini Eli Roth Sion Sono Herschell Gordon Lewis Jim Van Bebber Lloyd Kaufman
Legacy
Pink Flamingos was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2021.
Requiem for a Dream and Oldboy were named on the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.
See also
Art horror
Exploitation film
Dogme 95
Vulgar auteurism
Giallo
New French Extremity
Social thriller
References
Sources
Fyfe, Kristen. “More Violence, More Sex, More Troubled Kids.” Media Research Center. MRC Culture, 11 Jan. 2007. Web. 9 Feb. 2016
Dirks, Tim. “100 Most Controversial Films of All Time.” 100 Most Controversial Films of All Time. Filmsite, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.